Carbonneau vs. Subban

One of the long-running problems with the Montreal Canadiens is the franchise's impossible association with its past. 24 championships from a time where championships were easier to come by has come again and again to haunt the organization throughout.

Not least among the component problems there is that players once part of such championships take on the belief that championships are easy, and if everyone would just take their advice, they'd tell the team how to get back at multi-year runs. I'm not sure if that comes from honest belief or verbal diarrhea, but whatever it is, RDS's fatal requirement for 12 daily hours of hockey commentary leads the conversation to places that are not useful for the current group of players trying to deal with games every other day.

Patrick Roy for a Play?

You might forgive Pierre Houde, the last time this many people considered 0.904 to be a solid save percentage, it was the Patrick Roy era in Montreal. Whatever was going through his mind, this was a funny monent:



I don't want to say too much more about it. Price will obviously need to do better for his team, like it or not, if they have any hope of making the second season more memorable than the first. He won't be the first goalie to shake off some iffy stats (see Roy himself, 0.894 1993; Ward 0.882 2006,; other non-Cup winners), it's all very possible to streak the other way.

Yet, whatever happens, I tend to agree that it is fair to say (as the CJAD piece that pointed me to this did) that Carey Price is no Patrick Roy. And it would take a lot more than a few slips of the tongue from Pierre Houde to change my mind on that.

Awkward Much?

Carey Price made his play of the night yesterday when he used his eyes to signal his awareness in the awkward moment that was the Question Dodge

If that isn't incentive to learn French, i don't know what is. Trust RDS to be so bold as to pick apart the pulled goalies recent weakness two feet to his left...

Gotta Love Quebec

Can you imagine this ever happening on English TV in Canada.

Andre Roy singing about the Habs on February 28th.

And the uptight producers would keep us from a good laugh, a debate or a sing-along, depending on your take.

Thought I'd share.

RDS Can't Count

"Les faits lui donnent raison. Depuis son congédiement, il y a 16 ans, les seuls Francophones repêchés par le Canadien qui ont patiné dans la Ligue nationale, Mike Ribeiro, François Beauchemin, Maxim Lapierre et Guillaume Latendresse, ont tous été envoyés ailleurs pour des miettes. Imaginez, quatre Québécois du calibre de la Ligue nationale seulement en 16 ans."

"Since Savard was fired, the only francophones drafted by the Habs to have skated in the NHL are Mike Ribeiro, Francois Beauchemin, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse. Imagine, 4 NHL caliber Quebecois in 16 years."

What an indictment, and one no doubt aimed to inflame. Imagine.

But now imagine you were wondering how much money I had and I told you that I had $12 in change from the laundromat.

Sure, it's true, I only have $12 dollars in change from the laundromat (except that I actually have $22, oops forgot I changed some into bills) and I have more money in my other wallet that didn't come from the laundromat.

This is RDS's tactic. RDS implies by their statement that the Canadiens have ignored all Quebec players for 16 years because they have only drafted 4 NHL-caliber players.

For a start, they forgot to count Mathieu Garon who was drafted after Savard left. His career merits mention in the same breath of Lapierre, I'd think. And if they are going to throw around words like "qui ont patiné dans la Ligue nationale" they should probably also include the likes of Mathieu Carle, Jonathan Ferland, Eric Chouinard and Ben Guite who all skated in the NHL, much to the incovenience of the propagandists.

9 isn't a huge number of NHL players drafted from Quebec in 16 years, but it looks a heck of a lot bigger to the casual observer than 4. And, considering NHL stars aren't exactly pouring out of the province in the way they did in the 1950s, I'd wager it's not the worst tally in the league either. I'd even guess it's nearer the top.

Besides this, the Canadiens have also made conscious effort to make career opportunities for undrafted Quebeckers one of their post-lockout priorities. Yann Danis comes to mind, and who can forget Francis Bouillon and of course current top-liner David Desharnais. You could include others that were drafted then discarded, but then I suppose you'd have to say that Calgary wasn't responsible for Martin St. Louis. Who do I mean? Guys like Pierre Dagenais, Patrick Traverse, Steve Begin, Karl Dykhuis et al. Guys that got longer careers because Montreal gave them a chance when no one else would have.

Personally, I think that tack by the Canadiens has been sensible. They have been able to stockpile try-out players from the QMJHL from the leftovers of the draft. Considering the league is probably the probably most difficult in which to properly assess talent, this approach to minimize risk is great. It's already worked wonders with Desharnais and could yet pay with someone like Etienne Brodeur or a future scoring hotshot.



When will RDS be happy?

Well, in my humble opinion, probably never.

If the Habs had drafted only Quebecois over the past 16 years and had started 1-3-1, my bet is that they'd be complaining just as adamantly (and probably dishonestly) about something else.

I can't ask RDS to give up complaining, clearly they know it gets them the ratings. What I hope we can ask for is a little more honesty and integrity, and possibly better arithmetic. At least they provided the ammunition for the return volley in their half-baked attack, that's something, I suppose.

Game #39 Take Crete's Word For It, Habs Beat Panthers

Details

Date: 31/12/2010
Opponent: Panthers
Location: Florida

Win: 3-2 (OT)

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Ward (L)

Habs goalscorers: Wisniewski (2), Gionta
Opposition goalscorers: Weiss, Kulikov

Play of the game

Easy choice. The play of the game for me was the game-tying goal #2. With the Habs on another PP after just scoring, the pass was being passed around quite well. Wisniewski ended up with the puck on his stick with seconds to go and fired away, as he is paid to do. Full praise for not hitting the D, but it's always a little bit dubious when people insinuate that missing the net to bounce out the other side is the intended result. The primary goalmaker, however was alert and positioned himself perfectly for that eventuality. Once receiving it Gomez feigned a shot and fired an inch perfect pass to a waiting captain. This pass is a play to watch again and again.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Scott Gomez
Apart from orchestrating the winning goal, Gomez was pivotal in this game. He seemed to take more responsibility once the comeback became necessity and was skating the puck into danger areas as if the Panthers were kids on an outdoor rink at times.

Benoit Pouliot
I don't know whether the Lapierre trade had anything to do with it, but Pouliot looked revved in this game. He still can't buy minutes, but made the best of what he was given. He can be faulted for not always being as strong as he could on the puck. His willingness to use his balance, skill and hands is developing, though, and should encourage all Habs fans.

Brian Gionta
The captain did what he needed to do once the score was 0-2. It wasn't a locker room speech, it was his answer on the ice that led the troops to understand the game was not lost. His goal came off a super feed, but only a true goalscorer would be there to tap that in at that point. He's showing again that he is a true goalscorer.

Defencemen

James Wisniewski - Game Puck
This is no automatic nod to the OT goalscorer. I thought Wisniewski was a major factor in this win, the major factor. He led the team in goals, in points, in shots, in hits and in blocked shots. And that's to say nothing of the mostly solid defensive play throughout - only the harshest critic would dwell on his lapse in coverage on goal #1.

Hal Gill
This wouldn't have been a comeback without some very important penalty killing. Hal Gill is clearly one of the best leaguewide with that agenda, as he once again helped the Canadiens to a clean sheet on the road in that regard. Paired with the precocious Subban, he also tamed the Panthers at even strength long enough to allow the forwards to join the game.

Goaltender

Alex Auld
Not the toughest assignment for the big man, but he kept the goals against to two, which is what he needed to do. I thought the biggest saves came before the goals, and there were some important ones. Particularly one high shot at which he twitched his shoulder to make the save. Nice that Price could rest for a win.

Comments

Happy New Year everyone! And happy has been helped it turns out by the result of the game.

As I told you, my first game of the New Year was to be on tape delay. Because of the generously early start, I actually caught the first 55 minutes of play before leaving to celebrate with friends. A comeback and hold was positive enough to put this on the backburner while enjoying a few drinks. Then returned to watch in the early hours. 5 minutes of play and then a log fast forward through talking heads before we realized something was up. rewind, replay to see the three stars(?!?) and hear Alain Crete "Desole, Wisniewski a marque le but gagnant" A fitting end to a funny streak. A goal scored by the new acquisition while the floundering broadcaster went on and on about the dearly departed Lapierre. Le Sport Sans Limite, except when the limit is satellite signal. I'd have posted a picture of the game winner if there had been one.

Anyway, a win is a win is a win, even if it's experienced through the anticlimax of a taped apology. The Habs needed to win and did. But this may be their most important win to date, because not only did they need to win, they needed to prove they could comeback within a game to retake the result. Before last night, they had been abysmal when trailing. The 2-goal recovery represents the first major comeback of the season and should instill a little confidence around the room.

As for Lapierre, I am highly disappointed. On the year, he was getting no less minutes than he deserved and he should know that. To hear he requested a trade is disheartening. I hope I don't have to hear ever again that "the trade will be good for the player".

The Picard Nonsense

If reports from Brossard are to believed, Jacques Martin is on the verge of making a mistake with his defensive pairings.

The return of Markov has gifted the Canadiens with its best defensive depth in months and the coach chooses to look the gift horse in the mouth. The coach is poised to remove Spacek from the lineup in favour of Alexandre Picard.

Normally, I don't take much issue with Brossard or the line changes that constitute the entirety of the news gathered by the full media coverage the practice arena gets. But on this occasion, I am riled.

I am riled because this is not only a case of the coach getting it wrong (that happens often enough), it is a case of the coach getting it wrong because he is bowing to media pressure.

When the date of Markov's return was made clear, there were a few articles about the returning Russian. To my surprise, those seemed to be outnumbered in the locales where I read by heartfelt cases made for Alexandre Picard's retention.

Picard, a player who was signed to fill the hole left by Markov when he departed earned his place on the NHL team in training camp because he had a cheaper contract than Yannick Weber. Since that time, he has done admirably, in that he is largely not as bad as we expected he might be. But let's not be fooled.

Picard's numbers look alright for a few good reasons.

First, he has been playing with PK Subban. Subban has had the kind of rookie debut we have not seen since the days of Gilbert Dionne. Flying out of the blocks, he has been a revelation on most nights. What's more he has made defense easy for his partner because he has carried the puck, he has kept it in the offensive zone and he has covered up mistakes.

Second, as Olivier so roundly pointed out (and I can't find where anymore), Picard has been facing lesser lights while Spacek has not. What's more, they have been lesser lights on what everyone seems to agree have been lesser teams.

If Spacek is an accident getting called out by the RDS fan club, then Picard is an accident waiting to happen. He plays hockey like a short order cook, planning is not his strong suit. He wants the puck on his stick like a knee in the groin and when he does pass, it's often to someone in coverage. He hasn't yet tripped at the blueline or been blown by for a scoring opportunity of great note, but the signs in his play tell me it wouln't be long before he did if you tried to play him against Malkin, Parise or Stamkos. Picard over Spacek is a nonsense that we don't need to indulge just because Benoit Brunet needs a new vendetta until Kostitsyn takes a mis-step.

Spacek is Hamrlik's regular partner (we're talking about hours and hours now) and they have only been on the ice for 6 goals against together in 9 games. All the while, the Canadiens have been winning.

Early season games aren't all about results, but they are all about building something for late in the season. If Martin truly believes that given these healthy D in April, he would prefer to start Picard over Jaro against Ovechkin again, then fine. If he can't answer that challenge in that way, then he's simply pandering to the loudest critics.

And panderin won't get this team anywhere today, tomorrow or in April. It's a mistake.

It's Carey Price Day Again

Usually we do our best to set ourselves apart form the mainstream media by covering things they overlook or under-report. Not today. Today it's the midway mark of the exhibition season and few have done much of interest in camp. Today we'll toe the line with everyone else.

Today will be Carey Price Day...

After telling us to chill out, he's now telling us he won't be losing any sleep over his performance either.

Jack Todd thinks we the Habs may regret not trading Price (but only in Ottawa). In Montreal his piece on the goalie has a downgraded headline.

Someone in Toronto thinks the time has already come to give up on Carey (I was always told they were patient to a fault with losses in Toronto). These lines the most extreme:

If the organization is going to move forward and build on the momentum of their unlikely playoff run Price needs to be moved by Habs GM Pierre Gauthier immediately.

Rejean Tremblay isn't liking Price too much either and sees through his pronouncements about all that he's learned.

In Boston, they must at least be chuckling as they watch Rask. They speak some sense too:

It’s much too early to know whether the Habs made a mistake by keeping Price and trading Halak, but it’s easy to sympathize with fans who don’t think their goalie situation looks ideal.

Even people who like Price have nothing better to talk about.

Carbo is supporting his young former protege.

Martin is starting him again. Full game. Sorry Sanford.


All of this is a bit crazy. Thank goodness some cuts cam today, so fans will have something else to debate.


On where I stand on all this?

Not really sure. All I know is that I was hoping like many that the first time I saw Carey Price in action, I would suddenly see him through Gainey or Gautheir's eyes. It hasn't happened, but I'm not giving up hope just yet.

That said, I believe like many of you may that the detractors make great points, even if they aim to sensationalize and scandalize for readers. This, for me, an interesting thought from the sporadic Jack Todd:

If you thought things were going to be different with Gauthier in charge, you were wrong. It didn't take long for Bob Lite to prove that where Price is concerned, he drank the Kool-Aid.

Nothing that happens in the next few months is going to prove Gauthier right or wrong. It doesn't matter how Lars Eller plays, or how Halak fares in St. Louis.

He goes back to hyperbole after that, but essentially to say it is up to Carey to get this show together. We'd like it to be sooner (at least so we can read and talk about something else), but we'll take later if necessary.

Rethinking Andrei Kostitsyn

Having a good scan of the Habs universe yesterday brought me to this very salient piece on Francois Gagnon's favourite player, Andrei Kostitsyn.

Take it from me, it's nice as a blogger to find a piece you wanted to write yourself. It gives time back to watch more highlights and read more trade rumours.

Anyway, I thought the piece was very well stated, a good indictment of those who relentlessly malign the young Belarussian. The aim of its writing, would also be as my own:

"The intention of this article is not to absolve Kostitsyn. He is responsible for his play, his attitude and his work ethic. It's simply to encourage a more balanced assessment of all players regardless of their birthplace."

I think this is fair enough, don't you?

I know that Andrei's had a sluggish start to the season relative to some others, but it hasn't been as abysmal as some commentators (Brunet, Gagnon) constantly suggest that it has been.

Gagnon, never missing an opportunity to continue the agenda he set off last spring, seemed to display real elation in his headline as wrote: "Kostitsyn demoted, finally". Brunet, as you know only takes breaks from boosting Guillaume Latendresse to sling insults at the Kostitsyn brothers.

Rather than ask those commentators to find nasty things to say about 1-goal men Latendresse and Pacioretty, I would simply prefer that they back off a little on Kostitsyn, as I think many do. After all, this season is 11 games long and our top remaining goalscorer from last year is only a three-point game away from springing back onto his usual pace.


Jacques Martin's move misread?

Though Gagnon leaped on the practice alignment for his agenda-fitting headline, I think it may just be possible that Jacques Martin's move was blown out of proportion. For one thing, the "demotion" from Plekanec's line where he wasn't clicking anyway only lasted 30 minutes. In the end, Andrei played only a shade less than Latendresse at even strength, and saw a lot more ice than new golden stick Glen Metropolit, which doesn't exactly scream doghouse.

Secondly, Chipchura had been a warrior the game before, a possession centre without a finisher – the demotion for Andrei was also a nice attempt to see if Chips could benefit from some extra talent around.


Patience

As a frequent winner of my hockey pool's October standings, and a very infrequent winner of the April edition, I've learned a lot about patience. The players we rave about today will not be the same group we rave about on the eve of the important games. Nor will the players who are dogging it in our minds now there interminably.

Some patience needs to be exercised in watching and evaluating young Andrei Kostitsyn, before we boo him off the team in a trade we may regret because:

"By all accounts, the Canadiens are short a top six forward. It would be a shame to lose another one."

Apology

Just as a note on something else that the AllHabs article brought up for me. I hadn't really thought about it before, but Rocket at AllHabs puts it very well when he asks just why there hasn't been any sign of apology from the reporters who slandered (and continue to slander) the Kostitsyns as criminals:

"Both Kostitsyn brothers and Roman Hamrlik were the victims of rumours, embellished associations, and shoddy journalism by the Montreal media last season. To date, there has been no public apology for the outrageous accusations made by certain journalists and commentators. Some even continue to defame the three by referencing the false stories."

And to requote myself:

"No one really cared whether they were criminal or not, what will be remembered is that game with frenzied hacks claiming the scoop of the century – and that said scoop implicated the Belarussians. It's propaganda 101, people don't care too much about the facts. Give them a "juicy" (to borrow a term from the man himself) headline and they'll remember that."

Come to think of it, I do think an apology is due. And though I never expect one, perhaps in lieu of one, Gagnon and Brunet in particular could offer some peace for the winger trying to crack a 5.3 shooting percentage slump.

Boivin Parries And Thrusts

RDS is kind enough to remind me upon every entry to their site that there are only 3 days remaining until their blessed Anti-chambre launches a new season. 110%, renamed L'Attaque a Cinq (fitting that they have finally included attack in their name). And, the ubiquitous Rejean Tremblay is still producing his daily drivel.

What will happen in 3 days, if it hasn't happened already is the full-on debate about what has happened to the Canadiens over the summer. There will be moments spent lamenting Kovalev, I expect, before the whole discourse comes to rest on the question that has been looming for a long time: Are 3 French-speaking, Quebec-born players enough?

The barrage began early for the Canadiens defence. First Geoff Molson was accused of forming an ownership team that may not be Quebecoois enough. An astute parry from M. Molson reminded the pea-brained reporter that his family's got a Quebec heritage as rich as anyone's.

As Pat Hickey put it:

He pointed out the fact he is a seventh-generation Quebecer, his family has been here for more than 200 years and they have always been deeply involved in the community.

Boivin cites some statistics

Next it was Boivin's turn, and if you understand French, you should really go check it out on RDS's website, because the man can rattle off a volley and some with good sense in it as well.

The offensive blows he stung the reporter with were the high points. He noted, for instance, that there were 43 Quebecers in the NHL last season to play more than a 41 games. The Canadiens accounted for 8 of those (or 20ish percent). Assuming no massive shift to Quebec players league-wide, the Canadiens three will still account for more than their share.

He also explains to the blindfolded that cycles have played a role in this change. Noting that the QMJHL is not exactly in its heyday right at the moment.

Boivin gets pretty irritated by the end of the interview and is adamant that considering francophone issues is something that is at the heart of every decision made in the Canadiens organization, be it in the front office, in coaching, scouting or among the players. And, in allusion to the Lecavalier/St. Louis approaches that were widely speculated, he asserted that his team made big efforts to acquire Quebec players this past summer – that it was just not to be.


110% by its new name

Perhaps if they promise to bar M. Rinfret, i can concede they've changed more than the window dressing. Anyway, you can be the judge yourself as to whether the TQS (sorry, Tele V) crew has altered their tack or not. So long as it's got Jean Perron and his tangential rants, this show will always be the same proposition for me.

That night "L'attaque a cinq" took up the debate.
The debate segment of their Thursday show asked the question:

"Croyez-vous que le Canadien fait suffisamment d'efforts pour attirer des joueurs francophones à Montréal?"

In what promises to be the first of 150 nights treating this topic, Jean Perron appeared to win the day – but only in the Pierre McGuire (I'm the loudest) kind of way. No one sensible really got a word in edgewise.

Predictably, Jean's answer to the question was a very firm no. He was very proud of himself for citing Yannick Riendeau to Boston about 20 times over the 10 minutes as the prime exhibit in his argument.

Now, I may be unfair, because I've never had to face a raving lunatic on TV, but couldn't someone more astute have deflated Jean's Riendeau argument by mentioning that actually the Habs signed his teammate, Dany Masse, days later and have since drafted another Voltigeur, hired their minor league coach and invited Philippe Lefebvre to no less than two try-outs (BREAKING: now to main camp as well). Bring it on Jean, I'll take you, mate.


Rejean Tremblay

Well you can't count tenaciousness among M. Tremblay's weaknesse, of which there are many. He offers yet another thesis on the Canadiens and their connection with Quebec here.

Not much of it is new. Nor is it very convincing when his facts are invented (I prefer to trust the EU number which say 50% of Germans speak English, not 12% – after that I discounted those ridiculous stats).

After insulting Pierre Boivin's Frenchness and lauding his own patriotism by tourism, the bombshell he reserved is a report from Robert Sirois that will tell us about the league-wide conspiracy against Quebecers. I'll await the report, but don't we already know this stuff? Still 1,000 hours – give the man his piece.

As for Rejean, nothing but hot air from the hairdryer – nothing unexpected. If I didn't want to get my back up, I should know better than to follow that link. I offer you all the same warning.


More to come?

My guess is yes. And this is a surer bet than taking Ovechkin in a hockey pool. The issue is not resolved and so it will not be laid to rest.

The interesting thing is that the Perron's and the Tremblays of the world are starting to come across as out of touch as more and more fans of the team offer the olive branch to wait and see how this team does, as they hope for more wins, not better demographics.

We'll keep an eye, because this one will be a story. Your opinions, as always are welcome.

Language And Hockey

I don't want to wade too far into this quagmire, but a couple of really good articles have come up recently that made me think I should at least recommend them to you.

All will have noticed the amputation of the Quebecois arm of the Canadiens defence and the slow letting of some of the forward group as well. The comment has begun in some quarters and I recommend a read. At the very least it will prepare you with some background as you take in the doubtless numerous debates on this issue in l'Antichambre and 110% studios come September.

Anyway, here are the links:

No Dogs or Anglophones writes on the initial early July boycott that arose from the non-signings and signings that formed the 2009-10 Habs. The links within the piece are very educational and give a better idea of where the other side of the debate might be coming from.

And, yesterday new blogger Flying Frenchmen asked THE question. I hope he'll answer it too. I'm sure once he gets his feet in the blogosphere he'll be more willing to take on the storm... I responded on his blog, but only with regard to the biggest zealots on the issue who I feel will never be happy about the balance of the team – because happiness is not what they seek.


Aside on language: The RDS legacy

A bit of a tangent, I also wanted to note one very positive aspect of the language and the Canadiens lies with RDS. It's oft overlooked and even obscured as I criticise their journalistic integrity, but the fact remains if you are a fan of the Canadiens, RDS has been a boon.

Part of it is monopoly, of course. But a happy one, I'd suggest. Whether you are English, Spanish, Haitian, New Zealander, Finn, Quebecois or Manitoban you virtually have to watch the game in French. I say virtually because there are some alternatives: CBC on Saturdays, TSN once in a blue moon, or the old CJAD radio broadcast (if you can stand the ads and Murray Wilson's rambling – I can't). As such, we know that many fans of the team whose mother tongue is English will tune into the excellent Pierre Houde and his flailing side kick to take in the games.

I can only really speak from personal experience here, but watching hockey and hockey related programmes on RDS (everyone knows Sports 30 is Habs 26) has literally upped my French TV consumption by 100%. Were it not for this exposure and associated blogs and websites, my French would be woefully out of practice. Instead, I am very much in tune with my second language, and very pleased about that too. In fact, I'm happy that so many Habs fans across the country (if they can afford to bring RDS into their homes, that is) can enjoy this option as well.

And the great thing for the real fans of the French language is that it doesn't matter where the players on the ice are from really. The play-by-play, the comment, it's all in French (aside from Brunetisms) regardless of who's controlling the puck. It's great (free) practice for me – and honestly, where would I be without learning all the interesting ways that french pronunciation of Eastern European and other names differs from the English. Plekanetz? Malahoff? Derek Roy?

Thank Goodness For The Russians

From the time they first aired Kovalev's discontent a few seasons ago, the Russian newspapers have been a trusty source of down-time material for Canadiens beat reporters and bloggers. Reliability apart, you have to hand it to the Russian reporters, they do talk to players and they do look for stories.

In the summer lull, with the Canadiens media crew taking a much-needed break, the reports form Russia these days offer a nice contrast to the old faithful stories – new material.


Sergei Kostitsyn

RDS reports on an interview that Sergei had with a Belarussian newspaper (uncited). While it's not much of a story (certainly not in its summary form). He talks about the media pressure in Montreal and about his late season demotion to the AHL. Apparently he thinks it has everything to do with his gambling buddy and nothing to do with his lazy line changes and 10-game slumps.

I'll try to track down the full thing, since Sergei is a great interview and is known for controversial and often funny quotes (Puck Daddy, CKAC and Japer's Rink)


Alexander Avtsyn

A great tip from Robert over at Habs Eyes on the Prize on this Andrei Avtsyn interview over at Russian Prospects.

He goes through a number of questions providing lots of interesting answers. This is not the fluff of what's on your ipod or who's your favourite Will Ferrell character stuff. I suggest a read if you have any interest in this player.

The best bit for me was about the Canadiens media training courses. Avtsyn (probably giving away more than he should) says this:

"We had a very interesting meeting about ties with journalists. They teach us how to work with the camera. And also that journalists usually ask the same questions (pause, sly [moan]) ... That it’s better to anticipate questions, never be ashamed, always smile and reply calmly. (smiles)"

Funny kid. Funny that he'd tell the journalist asking him the questions how he's been told to answer the questions. To be fair to the Russian journalist, he's no Renaud Lavoie – he digs for something interesting here.


Alexei Emelin

RDS dug around the Russian press again for a story (uncited), which you may have all read. Once again, its a mere summary with a couple of quotes.

Apparently, our estranged prospect Alexei Emelin may not be as estranged as we thought. He says:

"Nous ne nous sommes pas entendus avec le Canadien sur les termes d’un nouveau contrat, affirme l’espoir du club Montréalais. Ils n’ont pas laissé tomber dans mon cas et nous gardons contact avec eux. J’espère toujours me faire une niche dans la Ligue nationale de hockey."

We didn't come to an agreement with the Canadiens on a contract, but they have not dropped me from their plans – we will still be in touch. I continue to hope that I will one day be able to make a place for myself in the NHL.

Good news for the organization, as you know burning bridges is never a good thing. And one never knows what injuries, trades and developments may happen to make a place for Emelin seem more feasible in the future.


Andrei Markov

Not from a Russian newspaper, but some Russian-related news.

Fan House's Adam Gretz (pseudonym or convenient name for a hockey writer?) is compiling a list of the top 50 players in the NHL based on play alone. He does add the disclaimer that it's all his own subjective take on things (something I can relate to loads). Anyway, he's up to #41 on the list and has already included the only Habs player, with Andrei Markov at #42.

One biased writer to another, I think he has it wrong. I watch Markov a lot and think it's unfair that he limits his praise:

"While he's prone to the occasional turnover at the wrong time, Markov is still more than capable in his own end, and one of the elite defensemen in the league when it comes to leading a power play and providing offense from the blue line."

For me he's one of the best defenders I've seen – not just capable. And show me one who isn't prone to an occasional error. I thought you'd be suitably incensed as well, so I brought it up.

Incidentally, before Four Habs Fans scooped up this story and made it their own, I was going to do a whole article on it. Suffice to say that I scanned NHL rosters and came up with about 19 players that I could definitively say were better than Markov at any position. I then classified a further 25 as his equal to marginally better/worse. So worst case scenario for me is that Markov is 45th, best case 20th. I feel the writer took the wrong bias. What about you guys? For example, is Markov not better than Corey Perry? Alexander Semin? Daniel Sedin? Martin Havlat?

The NHL seems to think he is at least better than all but 5 Russian players in the NHL, with the glaring question mark about Gonchar (and the relevance of defensive play) the only thing keeping him from #5.


Happy reading. Желаю хорошо провести выходные. (I hope that's right...)

Gagnon Asks: Who Will You Blame Now?

Could be an interesting debate, but I feel the answer's already in.


Maybe Francois has missed it, maybe I'm imagining things, but from what I saw and read the people who blamed Koivu for everything wrong with their team and their failed dreams moved on to Andrei Kostitsyn some time around March.

Why Kostitsyn?

Indeed, I have asked that question myself. I suppose for people who could find ways to blame Koivu for all ills of the past 5 years, though, the question isn't why Andrei, but why not?

Coming from that angle, you can really start to narrow down the choices, and it makes it easier than justifying why (especially for players who are doing just fine, best among their peers, even). You can eliminate those that you'll never be able to get a critical mass of booers behind and those that you wouldn't ever criticise thanks to their special skills.

Why not blame:

Koivu?
We've done our work now, he's a goner. Check it out, we even dug up this really relevant Ribeiro stuff a few days before the playoffs as a going away present

Kovalev?
That committee is already established to work in cooperation with this one

Lang?
Injured and no one would buy it

Bouillon? Dandenault? O'Byrne?
As bad as they are sometimes, they don't play enough to change outcomes

Brisebois?
I can't believe how humble he is, and so strong to come back to Montreal, too (actually, same as above)

Kostopoulos? Latendresse? Lapierre? Metropolit?
Trying their best, just have limits

Markov?
He is making it hard on us. We certainly don't like that he doesn't speak French, but then he doesn't really speak at all. Plus, slamming the best player we have might make us look stupid

Price? Halak?
Can't criticise goalies, all commentators (all former goalies) will get angry

Tanguay?
Come on...

Komisarek?
Blocks like 2456 shots while playing goalie on the PP

Sergei Kostitsyn? D'Agostini? Pacioretty?
Young, learning to play in the NHL

Plekanec?
He'd probably want to sit in on meetings and table new reasons to criticise, too much work

Higgins?
Getting his trade value to sink any lower could be really counterproductive here

Hamrlik?
Good possibility, but he's oh so boring

Laraque?
He might cry to the commissioner or tell us we're not in his league

Gainey?
Doesn't react to criticism – may react by spiting us


See, you can really start to narrow down with a little view into the mind of a Saku critic:

Yup, Andrei Kostistyn really doesn't offer us any reason to not choose him. It's his own fault really. Yes he may be our best first round pick in 10 years, but in a way that's what we look for – first rounders who succeed. Plus, we could have had so many others in his place (though without Koivu, they'd be right in line for this prestigious place themselves). We can also keep our embroidered Coalition to Oust Captain Koivu (COCK) gear – we'll just think of a new "C".

There may not have been a good reason to criticise Kostitsyn in January when the Coalition to Oust Captain Koivu general meeting decided they had achieved their most recent mandate. Luckily, someone noted that being a 25-goalscorer with so many goals already, he'd probably go through a statistical slump that they could talk up no matter how he actually played. Another coalition member left smugly (with a leave it to me guys) confident that years of noticing Koivu didn't shake hands with every child would stand him in good stead to rustle up hype over a deplorable act.


The scandal

Remember the scandal? Of course you do.

Now we all call it the scandal, but of course with the benefit of the facts, we know that in terms of criminal seriousness, the Kostitsyns were not in trouble at all. Sure they were mentioned. Sure, it was a distraction (though strangely it seemed to spark wins, not losses). And of course the great organization would want to avoid things like this. But really it was pretty low-key.

Tellingly, the night before the "scandal" broke, the cartoon tabloid writers were drumming up one heck of a storm. To borrow from James Mirtle's piece on the topic:

Jacques Demers: "Honestly, there are things I know, and what looks like what's going to come out [in the papers] tomorrow, I swear to you, I thought about Mr. Beliveau tonight ... and I just hope I'm dreaming. I'm a proud Canadien, the Canadiens are my life, and I hope I'm dreaming but I don't think I am."

Michel Bergeron: "I feel the same way. It's unbelievable. Tomorrow, hockey will be second. I don't like at all what I've heard today."

Bob Hartley: "If everything we've been told is true, I've never seen that in my life. If it's true, I'm going back to Atlanta [joking]"

Michel Bergeron: "The Canadiens are my roots, and my idols, like you guys...and it looks like the foundation is going to be shaken. Not just for the Quebecois but for anyone who wears the Canadiens sweater around the country. To me, what's happened, it's unacceptable".

Cyberpresse.ca reporter Rejean Tremblay, meanwhile, said he's recently received calls from police, a lawyer and those close to the team, and that the tales he's hearing are "juicy."

Let me join with James in asking what all the fuss was about back then:

"For now, given what information we have, I think you can chalk all this up to the fact these are two young guys from another country who were caught up in the wrong crowd."

Yet the damage to the Kostistyns has been done, hasn't it?

No one really cared whether they were criminal or not, what will be remembered is that game with frenzied hacks claiming the scoop of the century – and that said scoop implicated the Belarussians. It's propaganda 101, people don't care too much about the facts. Give them a "juicy" (to borrow a term from the man himself) headline and they'll remember that.


Gagnon himself

Am I dreaming that it's Kostitsyn. Apparently not. The man asking the question in July answered his own question 2 months earlier.

May 5th, 2009 on Team 990 radio (look for it in the little player on the right hand part of the screen) – Francois Gagnon did a number on the alpha target and thought he'd throw Sergei under the same train.

And, since "Gagnon is always scrupulously fair and brilliantly analytical in his assessments of players and teams", it won't be long before the rest of the media catch up to this little trend.


Jacques Demers

Now I'm not suggesting that Jacques Demers is some kind of mastermind behind the Koivu coup or that he had anything to do with targeting Andrei Kostitsyn. But for me Jacques is a bit of a bell weather. That's to say, he seems to get swept along by whatever underlying campaign is currently ongoing.

His capacity to be down on Kostitsyn before games, in between periods and after games was amazing. It would only take 3 goals without a goal sometimes (did I mention 25-goalscorer = 1 goal every 3 games or so) to call for him to be sat down. After that news story broke, though, every penalty by Kostitsyn became a crime, every bad line change was reason for analysis and discussion, every time he passed he should have shot, every time he shot he should have passed.

And while certain players benefit from the "learning the game" excuse, there's no such excuse for Kostitsyn. He's spent that now (he of 186 NHL games). It was interesting to see how a player scoring 49 goals over two seasons could be trashed so thoroughly towards the end of this past season. It was fun when juxtaposed with the hyperbole reserved for others scoring 30 goals over – talked up as the most glorious progression a prospect has ever seen.



It will be a shame if Kostitsyn really does cop it for the lack of another lightning rod (Koivu)on the team. Perhaps Gainey thought he could protect him by bringing in the two highest paid Canadiens ever – one of whom is sure to do less than his salary, draft status, trade return or signees missed to take him would warrant. Perhaps, he'll be gone as Gagnon so rabidly asserted.

I can only hope that those who wish to spread displeasure for the sake of it – no matter what shape their coalition now takes – will be the most disappointed of all Habs "fans" this season.

Is Koivu On The Outs?

Gainey hasn't said anything in near 3 weeks, yet the Ottawa Sun (via a affiliated newspaper) seems to have the inside track on the Canadiens situation.

Stated very surely, here it is:

It would appear Saku Koivu’s days with the Canadiens are finished. The Habs captain will likely test the UFA market, although talk has resurfaced that he’s simply going to pack his bags for Minnesota to play with brother Mikko on the Wild. The Habs, meanwhile, are trying to sign D Mike Komisarek and RW Alexei Kovalev. Komisarek is expected to test the market, while Kovalev is expected to stay in Montreal.

Garrioch's notorious for being a rumour-monger. But I've seen the Kovalev (now discredited) report from Russia used by journalists nearly every day for three weeks now. We all know the level of research they do is minimal, probably less than us amateurs. But honestly. A Russian report? Discredited a day after it was written? Do we still have to read the off shoots of this garbage.


The real answer re: Koivu is that we simply don't know. We don't know whether he has been contacted by Gainey at all or was signed 2 weeks ago. All we do know is that Tanguay is not priority number one.

One thing I am now getting a better picture of is public opinion. Well at least some of it. RDS recently added a game called "Jouez au DG". The application allows a punter like you or me to use the current signed and delivered Canadiens team (did anyone else think we were stuck with Metropolit? quite unfortunate) as a basis for adding free agents only.

It seems like a fun idea.


Salary

One interesting aspect of the game is that it sets players salaries. For the most part they look like they are in the right ballpark, although there are a few bargains to be had and a few no one will pay – like Tanguay at $5 million and Bouillon at $2.5M (I wonder how that happened?). Anyway, according to the computer, Saku Koivu comes in at a salary of $4 million a year. That makes him the 4th highest salaried centre and the 12th highest among forwards. His $4 million puts him below teammates Kovalev, Tanguay and Komisarek (seems logical).


Popularity

Given the low salary, one might think Koivu would make a popular choice for a team in need of two centres to spearhead their offence. Not so. Maybe not too surprising, but I didn't expect Koivu on board to draw a blank.

When you search the most recent editions of teams to the website for "Koivu", that's just what Saku did – nothing comes up. Not one person has re-signed Saku for the upcoming season.

Here's a quick summary of the UFAs that were signed from the page that I saw:

Robert Lang (7)
Alex Tanguay (6)
Francois Beauchemin (5)
Alex Kovalev (5)
Jay Bouwmeester (4)
Erik Cole (3)
Ian Laperriere (3)
Henrik Sedin (3)
Mike Komisarek (3)
Mike Comrie (2)
Daniel Sedin (2)
Manny Malhotra (2)
Steve Begin (2)
Mathieu Schneider (1)
Mark Recchi (1)
Stephane Yelle (1)
Rob Scuderi (1)
Marian Gaborik (1)
Chad LaRose (1)
Jason Williams (1)
Maxim Afinogenov (1)
Mathieu Dandenault (1)
Rhett Warrener (1)
Nick Boynton (1)
Mike Cammalleri (1)
Andrew Raycroft (1)
Denis Gauthier (1)
Stephane Veilleux (1)
Todd Bertuzzi (1)
Andre Roy (1)
Dany Sabourin (1)


Now those were the selections of the public (thank goodness our GM has hockey knowledge), but not to be outdone three RDS experts also contributed – offering another Koivu blanking:

Gaston Therrien signed these UFAs:

Alex Tanguay at $5M
Erik Cole at $2.5M
Alex Kovalev at $4.25M
Mike Cammalleri at $4.5M
Mike Komisarek at $4.5M
Francois Beauchemin at $5M

(He's such an astute GM that he allowed less than $3M to sign all the rest of players needed to ice a team)


Alain (Le Baron) Chantelois signed these UFAs:

Alex Tanguay at $5M
Chris Neil at $2.6M
Alex Kovalev at $4.25M
Mike Cammalleri at $4.5M
Francis Bouillon at $2.5M
Francois Beauchemin at $5M
Nick Boynton at $3M

(I think he showed his special touch in signing Bouillon for a $0.8M raise while leaving less than a minor league salary in buffer)

It goes on and on. You can read their choices here.

(Note: Please forgive them for signing no reserves, they haven't watched much hockey. Plus they were all too busy throwing money at Beauchemin)


Why no Koivu?

It's a funny thing, this complete omission of Koivu.

We all watched the playoffs. We all watched last year too (pre-broken foot and post-broken foot). But memories, it seems are fickle.

Koivu, it seems is being blamed by the fans for 16 years of blah. It's unfair that he would be, but he's the one constant isn't he? (Well there's that defender, but he was such a big contributor to the 1993 championship that he's rightly forgiven).

I am not looking forward to the day that Koivu is not a Hab, but I might be able to manage. If losing Koivu is a step the team must take to progress – to make room for a Sedin, for example, then I might see the value. I can't stomach losing Koivu to make room for Mike Comrie. I can't stand losing Koivu so that Komisarek can play as the 5th defenceman on $4.5 million a year. I won't be happy if Tanguay gets recalled before Saku or if the $4 million we cave on Koivu is spent on a raft of Gauthiers and Laperrieres.


One thing is clear, if Koivu is re-signed, and becomes the longest serving captain in team history, there will be many unhappy people in the rank and file. Equally clear is that many of those who will be unhappy (based on this sample) have as much hockey sense as Rejean Houle...

Who Will They Ask Next? RDS Quotes PK Peladeau On Gainey's Coaching Choice

Though they have yet to ask anyone whose opinion I care about, the French press are really running the gamut of famous Quebecers to consult.

Yesterday we heard what marginal contributor and salary millstone Georges Laraque thought. We've heard from just about every former coach to have ever laid foot in La Belle Province. Now, running out of "experts" we must hear from a prominent Quebec businessman. Who will they ask next?

What made me want to post was not the fact they asked him, but the tripe they actually decided to post on their website. Here is what Peladeau (allegedly – always alleged nowadays) said via the "first-class" paper Le Quotidien:

«Ça aurait peut-être pu attendre deux semaines pour que l'on puisse, d'un commun accord, prendre une décision»

"It might have been better for him (Gainey) to wait a couple of weeks (before choosing a coach), so that we could come to an agreement on the matter"

Last time I checked M. Peladeau, you weren't a consultant for hockey operations with the Canadiens.

As for RDS, the day they get an interview from a key player on the team or free agent such as Markov, Price, Koivu, Kovalev or Higgins is the day I'll be truly impressed. Until then, I suppose I'll have to put up with mocking their overall lack of effort and professionalism.

I suppose that is one bright side of these media magnates jostling for the Habs – the demise of RDS in its current form. Still, I shudder to think of someone as prone to egomania as this quotes suggests actually bidding for and owning the team...

Sometimes You Thank The Stars They Are Just On TV...

Jacques Demers is the latest broadcaster/analyst to whip off a quick who stays, who goes article; despite the fact everyone stays until July 1 nearly two months away (barring trades of course, but this is Bob Gainey we're talking about).

His analysis over the season left me wanting, but I thought he improved with time. This latest analysis is his worst work in my working memory.

Now, I have plans and work in progress to present my own reflections on all these comings and goings, but I thought I would pick a few gems from Jacques to have a go at:

1) "Je n’hésite pas, j’accorde un nouveau contrat à Kovalev."

I wish I had the links (maybe I'll find them), but Jacques you hesitated massively. This is the manic depressive talking here. The minute Kovalev has 10 good games without a goal, Demers will have forgotten his sudden willingness to pay Kovy.

This comment goes with the rest of the article, in that you can see it was put together over a fifteen minute period.


2) "Il n’y a aucun doute, je garde les services d’Alex Tanguay."

Except that you seem to be willing to despatch our proven scorer and captain in Koivu. I think there's plenty of doubt, stemming mainly from the fact he was not a big contributor when he wasn't surrounded by the best. Can we afford to pay for someone who needs so much support to make goals? I think we probably can, personally. But there's at least some doubt.


3) "Je n’hésite pas une seule seconde et j’offre une nouvelle entente à cet ailier qui a démontré une belle progression." (Guillaume Latendresse)

Pardon me for noticing guys, but Guillaume did not improve this year. He certainly relished the chance to have his status downgraded from scoring prospect to checking line winger, but as he is not great defensively nor a great bodychecker (although a frequent one), one must surely question this re-up. particularly in light of Demers keeping both Higgins and Plekanec, both better players who'll also be looking for less responsibility on the third or fourth line.

There's a lot of hesitation here for me as it becomes clear that Guillaume may top out as a not-so-scary or physical winger who can score 16-18 goals from now on. I'd give him another chance (for obvious reasons), but would easily trade him if even a decent offer came through.


And the insane comment that kick-started this article:

4) "Je ne doute pas une seule seconde que Denis mérite un autre contrat pour servir de police d’assurance."

What on earth? More hyperbole from Jacques about no doubt. Funny the guys he has no doubt about...

Marc Denis, after Georges Laraque, was the unmitigated failure of a signing for the year. Can you remember when Halak was struggling to stop a puck in early January? Denis seemed to be in line for minutes (he got domes from the bench – that's how bad Halak was), but Carbonneau at the time would have none of this guy. There was no confidence whatsoever in the goalie from Hamilton.

Even his record in Hamilton is sketchy. He started out really well (as would be expected of a 31 year-old first round pick in a league beneath him), then e came up to Montreal. after his redemotion he had a horrid stretch and then bounced back. Hamilton squeezed into the playoffs where they were (and Marc in particular) a sorry bunch.

He is not an answer for Hamilton next year, let alone Montreal. It should be so long and thanks for all the fish...


Wow, that was heavy. Jacques Demers, being the Don Cherry of French Canadian TV is prone to saying stupid things off the cuff. But these were some of the worst. I'm just glad he's no longer associated with the decision making for this team and that he is kept at a safe distance from the ice in the RDS press box...

Schneider On Ice RDS Does Stand For 'Really Desperate Slackers'

You see?


Yesterday, I mused that Gainey may just know better than RDS on the status of his own players. I pretty well slated the media for getting so antsy, and in the end sacrificing credibility for headline-chasing.

Well, Schneider was on the ice today (thanks RDS for some useful info). Whether or not he plays tonight is irrelevant to the argument, given his diagnosis was no more ice time this season. It is, however, quite relevant to us fans as the dilemma goes from who shoots? (among 50 mph inaccurate choices) to who shoots? (proven PP goalscorers with accurate hard slappers).

This is great news.


RDS not off the hook with me

I know I wrote a bit about RDS and their general standards of journalism yesterday. I've addressed it again above. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I am so astounded.

It's because on top of the injury story which they broke and got wrong, this morning I watched a video of Jacques Demers – one which I had (and still have) trouble believing could ever be made. Jacques was speaking on the topic of team ownership (presumably because his expertise knows no bounds) and making about as much sense or progress as you or I would have on the topic. The part Jacques could add to with some credibility was how reports and speculation about changing owners can affect a team and gave rise to the title of the clip: Gillett devrait donner l'heure juste.

Or, in other words, Gillett should be honest and get this over with in the open because all the speculation will distract the players and spoil the season.

A bit rich coming from the primary source of wild speculation isn't it?

RDS's irresponsible reporting is harmless enough until it does affect the players. Before they went buck-wild on the topic, I don't think anyone could have been distracted, the reports were so vague and disperse – bloggers like me who look for any scrap to discuss were barely noticing. But their recent rash, which included 4 written pieces and as many video clips, may cause me to withdraw my earlier statement from March:

"I tend to believe this is quite minor compared to all the other distractions."

What's more they can't even present a balanced story. Whereas Pat Hickey (second kudos in as many days, well done real reporters) reported on the 10 suitors for the Canadiens having submitted their intentions and details to BMO by mentioning all. RDS simply refuses to publish anything other than the number ten while listing the homegrown options alone. If you read only RDS, you could be forgiven for not knowing that both the Molsons, the Bronfmans and the American Roustan Capital (who Hickey says own several hockey-related enterprises) were involved at all.

Many a thesis has been written on how rolling news has caused massive shifts in society and indeed how countries are run across the world. I could write a thesis on how RDS will ultimately affect how any Canadiens team is built and run over the time they hold almost exclusive TV broadcasting rights to the team with an agenda is at times transparent and petty. Their latest activities make me feel ill as manipulation and maneuvering take supreme precedence over accuracy and good reporting.


Now all that is off my chest (you see I didn't want to throw away all the bitterness even after I learned of #24's return), I can say I am at peace.

How are you all feeling about this latest Schneider news?

For me, even the possibility of Schneider coming back is better news than I had been led to expect for the next 3 months on this team...

Why Carbonneau Was Fired An Evolving Opinion

In an effort to get something out yesterday, I spoke quickly and from instinct. Upon listening to everything that has been said and re-said, my opinion on matters is beginning to evolve.

Basically, what it is coming down to is that Carbonneau was deficient in many many areas for this job. He was a pro with the media, yes. Good for him. But when it came to judgment and even just being a leader, he was drawing many blanks.

My first question for Carbonneau would be: "Do you know what coaching in the NHL is meant to involve?"; "Do you know what you are being paid way over the odds to do?"


Communication

We all spoke about communication, but yesterday was a revelation to me. Dandenault complained about communication. Begin complained. Carbonneau never spoke to Tanguay? The gist of what the reporters were saying was that almost to a man, every Canadien was dissatisfied with how their coach treated them.

An interesting tidbit that came out in one interview with a talking tete. Apparently some players (or someone) went to Carbonneau very recently and explained that the players felt he needed to relate his decisions to them more personally and more efficiently. His response was something to the order of:

"J'ai 23 joueurs, j'ai pas le temps de m'occuper de ca."

Pardon? No time to do you job? Must be all the time spent on tactics...


Tactics

After the Atlanta game, I was thoroughly upset. I thought the players worked well. I thought they were playing a system dictated to them. But for one reason or another, they were being stifled by a defence that was planned just for them. It was a chance to adapt on the fly. Instead, the coaches held firm and lost.

It's heady days when Bob Gainey agrees with you; apparently, he felt some of the same feelings watching from above. One of the most poignant criticisms form the press conference for me was Gainey's assertion that he had some tactics that he would immediately like to implement.

This is crazy, isn't it? New tactics. I didn't think I'd see the day this season.


Work ethic

Back in November, I was appalled by some of his responses in an interview he gave to Dave Stubbs of The Gazette. I don't think Dave meant that interview to be used as source material today, but he graciously reposted it on Habs Inside/Out last night to make my research a heck of a lot more straightforward.

For me there are two key instances form the very frank and revealing interview that foretold Carbonneau's doom. The first comes first in the interview, somewhere near the beginning. Dave Stubbs pulled this out of Guy, and what an indictment:

"I don't want to look too far ahead... I don't work, you know, in March, we're going to do this kind of practice. And I know some coaches that are like that. Some coaches, at the start of the season, they have all their practices laid out. I'm not like that, I come to the rink every morning and sit down with the coaches. OK, what do we do today... That's how I was as a player, I concentrated on the game that we had; and, after that, talk about it for a while. Forget about it the next day."

He elaborates on his seat-of-the-pants, minimal approach to preparation later in the interview too, in what I would call classic reporting if Dave was trying to get this stuff out of Guy:

Dave: "When you were playing, was hockey a 13 month a year exercise?"
Guy: "No. It's never been for me. I mean for me it's always been it's game day, it's practice day for a couple of hours that was it."
Dave: "So you can leave it behind? When you finish the office after a practice day, you can leave that?"
Guy: "Yeah. I have no problem."
...
Guy goes on: "I always lived 40 minutes away from the rink... so, for me, that time in the car was really (he explains it's his prep time)"

So, no work on days without practices (don't get me started on how any coach could fathom so many days without practices in the first place). And on days where there is a game, his generosity of spirit makes it possible for him to have a short discussion upon arriving. Oh, and then there's the 1:20 minutes that he thinks about his job on his own time...

From what you've read of Scotty Bowman, do you think this jives? Heck, from what I read of Mike Babcock in a McGill newsletter, this doesn't add up. Other coaches plan a whole year of practices while Guy works out what he'll do in ten minutes time. Are we still wondering how Boston figured out how to defend Kovalev as he was being deployed? How to exploit our pinching left D teamed with a goalie who can't move his arm properly? No solutions were forthcoming from Guy, thanks to his remarkable capacity to go home and enjoy his life. I thought there might be enough time for that during his 4 month summer vacation, obviously, I was wrong.

It must be said that this interview shows how, as late as November, Guy was slacking intensely at his job – and getting away with it quite nicely. It seems that when the going got tough, he might have needed to adjust. But adjusting is not his thing, is it?


Management

Yesterday, I said it smelled of management. I'm not so sure now. I'm sure management support the decision. And, I'm still certain Gillett's allegiance is to his investment and not his fans' hearts. However, Gainey must have also seen lots of this himself.

Frankly, if Bob Gainey needed a tap on the shoulder to fire this coach, I think we should have some serious questions about our new coach/GM. Sure they were friends, but after multiple players complaining about the same thing, a coach questioning injuries, hampering the development of youngsters and missing opportunities to get the most of his team, Gainey might have clued in himself to a problem. When casual fans like myself and commentators on this and other blogs can see tactical deficiencies being exploited by other teams, the time to get a professional with experience and imagination has come, I'd say.

To me this morning, the move smells less of management, and more of a GM who might finally be getting his own act together...


In any case, Guy is gone. Our new coach will be better or, at worst, equal. There is no guarantee of playoffs, of course, since the teams we play from here (with the exception of the Tavares Maple Leafs) also want to win. We'll probably never know the reason for his departure. RDS will fabricate something that they will claim to be fact (as they do with Julien), but even they won't be privilged to Bob Gainey's thoughts. So, unless the story evolves even more, case closed...

Don't Believe What You ReadReporting On Canadiens A Shambles

You know what they say in internet land: "More haste, more speed"

Desperate reporters look to desperate measures as they would prefer to scoop anything from the murky waters of the online channel than scoop nothing at all.

Unfortunately, the result for the rest of us. Those who would rather know the truth in an hour than 15 guesses at what the truth might be now is often confusion and, ultimately, frustration.

On the same day as all this, I found this classic quote from a classy champion:

"Their haste is a reflection of the sad way the game is going, with everyone from owners, the board members, the supporters and the media demanding instant success and showing absolutely no patience in the pursuit of their ambition."

It could have been said about this sorry situation and not Luis Felipe Scolari's dismissal at Stamford Bridge. Had Sir Alex been so unlucky as to be tuned into RDS two days ago, I'm sure he'd concur.


The Kovalev story

The Kovalev story this week started easily enough. The news that he would be benched for 2 days came straight from the horses mouth and wasn't preceded by any speculation or rumours of the news.

But this juicy tidbit was spotted as a cash cow right from the start. Every newspaper and every blog had posted news of the press conference announcement within a few minutes. I tried to get something out as fast as I could - it probably earned me a good 30 cents just from hits (cash cow, indeed)...

The real cash from this story was in the spinning out, not in the initial report. The obvious fabrications sprung up remarkably quickly. No sooner had Gainey stopped talking that someone in the French press reports that Gainey has been trying to trade Kovalev for 2 weeks (to the Western conference, no doubt). The story is so predictable. It could be true, but it probably wasn't. We move on.

The next predictable part of the saga is Kovalev's musings on this matter via – you guessed it – the Russian press. This old cherry is a good one because it assumes (probably rightly) that not many in Montreal read Cyrillic, much less check up on Pravda by the day. The story as it was released can be found here: Prêt à partir, Kovalev blâme les jeunes.

This was as lazy as it was unprofessional. Back in 2007, La Presse broke a story that was either fabricated or shoddily translated. Back then it was purported that Kovalev, said the same things as this time. Kovalev denied it. The Canadiens investigated and decided their was no foundation to it. And the coup de grace, La Presse's alleged source came on Quebec French radio and refuted that Kovalev said any of this things the rag claimed he did.

This time it was not La Presse, but a locked-out employee (who used to work for La Presse). De Foy's sources, according to his CKAC interview were as watertight as La Presse requires – he merely claims he has a Russian friend in common with Kovy (not that he told the Russian friend these things, even). Even if Kovalev did tell his friend these things, it's hardly bullet-proof [The other night I told Tobalev I would stop watching the Habs if they started Carey Price without him earning a minute of it – clearly that was a heat of the moment exaggeration on my part]. De Foy, as a journalist with access to players (when they don't hang up on him...) could hold a higher standard. He chose not to. He instead favoured the scoop (again).

Still one rogue journo is not the end of the world. That is if any of the others held a high standard with regard to sourcing.

Within minutes of the initial report (see here for timing comment 1 to 15, about 30 minutes), RDS had it up. Given the reliability of La Presse's sources in the past, and the fact it was a recycled story line, you'd hope RDS spent the time checking the validity. It strikes me they probably didn't. As pleased as I am to be able to turn the TV on any time and listen to a new debate on the Canadiens, RDS yesterday showed just how low their standards are.

They weren't alone. The once excellent Habs Inside/Out, who I once praised near daily, were among the more professional; were also hapless in their own terror of being scooped. They waited an astounding ten minutes to become a tertiary source. Pat Hickey followed with this. There were more.

The Montreal media caught out by false reports? Try idleness...

As a blogger we hear at length how inferior we must be to the great professionals because we don't have access to dressing rooms and to players. Yet in this situation, in a breaking situation where a call to a player could have resolved the whole thing and saved embarrassment, they chose to print.

One reporter did end up doing some reporting. With a sccop that should thoroughly humiliate the self-important Habs writing community, Darren Dreger of TSN broke the news. He wrote to Kovalev.

The usual suspects picked up this story just as quickly. RDS swept their previous story under the rug, hence the absence of a link here today. Habs Inside/Out at least admitted they had no idea what was going on.

The whole episode, precipitated by the search for the scoop and the fear of being scooped, is wholly disappointing.


Operation Axe

First, let me say that this mass arrest from the Montreal police (with the minor exception of a few Habs players) is great news for Montreal as a community. I don't have the full details (CBC reports), but a sting planned over almost 3 years, the biggest in Montreal history, did well to bring in so much.

As far as Operation Axe affects the Canadiens, you'd think the journalists fresh off their adrenaline-induced flurry of the previous 24 hours might have shown some restraint. But again this story was rushed to our bandwidths without much diligence. The first reports only spoke of the hype (generated by La Presse, of course). But as soon as the flimsiest of details came out, the half-baked products were uploaded.

I have spewed enough vitriol above and don't think i need to retread the same ground. Needless to say, the initial reports full of sensation were picked up by nearly everyone. As the light dawned on the situation this morning, and the story gets duller by the minute for conspiracy theorists, the alternate version is presented as a competing news story.

Friend and fellow blogger Robert L does the business on this episode. If you haven't had enough of ragging on the media, give his latest a read.


Eric Engels

I would be negligent if I didn't give a special nod to my fellow blogger Eric Engels who has also called for better standards of journalism from this group. Quite an indictment from a member of Hokeybuzz.com, no? His comments can be found at the bottom of this article.


The irony

You have to admit the irony of the whole situation is fun to take in.

The networks and press that flounder to get out stories criticising and cutting down players on the Montreal Canadiens, essentially for not doing their jobs properly, are doing so all the while neglecting the values of journalism. The result is they look as big fools on the page as Sergei Kostitsyn after a giveaway with a failed deke at the Vancouver blueline.

If Gainey had the power, I think he'd be suggesting a mandated vacation for certain non-performers in the press. Overheard via a common Azerbaijani friend of mine and Gainey's:

"We don't need them the way they are performing their duties right now."

As an editorialist rather than a reporter it's easy for me to point the finger, maybe too easy. I'm sure the demands of the reporting job are heavy and that I too would have trouble. However, I would be remiss in my own role as commentator on Canadiens and their media if I did not at least shine the light on this embarrassing episode. I don't think I'm alone with 2 bloggers in feeling a bit ashamed of our brethren here...

What I do know is that the internet and 24-hour news has changed everything for the news media. I can see that some aren't able to keep up...

41-Game Reviews All Round

Having checked Google Analytics recently, I could see not many of the readers were reading the top post, but not the second. I don't want to flog a dead horse: if you don't want to read it, that's fine. However, this post is my moving it up to sit at the top of the page again:

Midway Evaluations: The Habs And Their Half Seasons

And instead of simply moving the initial post, I thought the keenest among you might also want to look at someone else's opinion on this matter – to remember why you visit this site (or why this site isn't your only stop of the day).

When you commit to a player grade as you do when you write one of these things, reading other posts stirs up all kinds of emotions and arguments. So forgive me for posting these, but to me they were fun to read: ranging from light, fun and informative to downright polar opposite at times.

First up: RDS's Gaston Therrien
No marks here, just a fairly innocuous take on the season so far. The players he chooses to highlight: Lapierre (predictably), as well as Kostopoulos and Brisebois (huh?) are interesting...

Next: Arpon Basu at the Daily Hab-it
Actually makes the effort to list every player, and even commits to some hard-line opinions of his. Clearly we don't like the same players or brand of hockey, but LIW admires his conviction.

Third: Fred at En Route Pour La Coupe
We discussed his Tanguay rank before. His rankings are thorough and thoughtful.

Finally: Habsworld season averages of weekly marks and Habsworld Report Cards
For a site with such a great URL, you might expect a little better. The averages by their own legend mean we are a team of stars who under-perform with some good players who play at expectation. Every player on the team seems to range from 7.0-7.75. What's more, Guillaume Latendresse is the highest ranked forward – that kinda speaks for itself really...

Their report cards are not of a much higher standard. The article rightly gives the Canadiens as a team an A, but then gives a single player an A+ (Gorges), and a few As (Tanguay among the top of the class again – for those who use stats as cheat sheets). Hamrlik gets the second lowest mark on defence, behind Brisebois, Bouillon and even Dandenault!

It's a shame they don't post comments as there'd be some doozies there for sure...


Anyway, great first half. Even us fans must be congratulated for being rather more mature about winning this year. Here's to an even better end to the campaign.